Birthday Cake
by Suffering Angel
Summary: It's Teddy's first birthday since he lost his mother, and Billy finds an original way to try and make up for her absence.


I don't own YA.

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**_Birthday Cake_**

It was an innocent question, one born from affection and care. All Billy wanted to know was what Teddy, who was to be Birthday Boy Teddy in two days, wanted to do to celebrate. He thought he'd be requested a party, demanded a present, maybe some special _privileges_…  
He didn't expect that moment of silence, or that longing, distant look, or the shadow of a frown that twisted the handsome face.

"A cake." Teddy answered finally, looking almost emberrassed about it. At the very least, he looked adorably bashful, Billy concluded.

"That… is kind of a given, Tee." Billy snickered and leaned back on his chair, arm resting on the backrest.

Teddy smiled awkwardly at the statement he knew was true and reached to scratch the back of his neck. It was with the arm closer to Billy and so the movement let him half hide his face behind his forearm.  
"Yeah, but… it's a special kind of cake. You can't just find it anywhere."

"Hey, I'm up to the challenge." Billy reassured and turned to face Teddy. "What's it like?"

"…a clown."

The reply made Billy blink.  
"A—"

"-clown, yes." Teddy reaffirmed and shifted on the bed, one arm resting on an upraised knee while the other tried grasping at air. "Or, or a house. There was a car, once, too."

"…oh." Billy muttered as he understood, an act that made Teddy smile fondly and sadly at him.

Amongst the many books Teddy's mother owned, along with the self-help book that got Billy started with his Magick, was an old book she bought at a second hand shop. It was titled "30 Cakes for children's parties", with several examples from the book decorating the cover. It had recipes for all sorts of cakes in various forms, with instructions on how to make it both look like it should and still be edible.  
For the past fifteen years (going by both recollection and photographic evidence), without fail, whenever Teddy's birthday came along, his mother would bake him a cake going by one of the recipes from the book. Every year it was something else, both in flavor and shape, and the tradition carried on even into Teddy's teen years. Even when he grew up and began finding the custom somewhat childish, he never once spoke of it in front of his mother. Instead, he let her invest her whole into it, at times even taking a day off for the sake of preparing the cake in time if the design was particularly elaborate.  
Now, knowing the truth about his heritage and his mother's identity, Teddy realized it was her trying too hard to be human, to create a family tradition for him.

It would be the first year he was to celebrate his birthday without that proof of her love for him.

Now, granted, Billy couldn't bring back the dead. He was rather certain he shouldn't even if he could. But there was one thing he _could_ do, he reckoned, and so that evening found him rummaging through the bookshelves in his house. The Kaplans rarely gave books away (because throwing them was simply unthinkable), and so Billy willingly came face to face with the towering shelves, each stacked with books until it was ready to collapse. He easily lost himself between the many books pertaining to his parents' professions and the books gathered to help the three sons' educations, and was ready to cast a spell to help him with the task when his mother walked in on him.  
He knew well what he was looking for, and so explaining himself was easy.

"Mom, you remember that old cook-book, right? For the cakes? …the one we keep telling you to give away and you never do, which I hope you still didn't?"

There was a warm smile on Rebecca's face when she easily pulled the book out of its hiding place, between the psychiatric books and the classics like Jane Eyre and Treasure Island. The book showed obvious signs of age and wear and Billy recognized some of the recipes as he flipped through the pages. Now, Teddy named the cakes his mother made for him, and Billy had to frown; the ones left were the more elaborate ones, or at least so it seemed to a person whose cooking skills amounted to not much.

Finally having decided on a model, Billy let himself notice the knowing, almost_infuriating_smile on his mother's lips.

"…what?"

"I think it's _very_ sweet, dear…" Rebecca praised gently as she reached to hold Billy's hands. She then gave him that _look_, the one where she tilted her head to look at him _just_over her glasses, the one that always made him feel like a five year old that did something she wasn't supposed to know about but did, and he had no idea what it was.

"But _do_let your father help."

He did, and he regretted nothing, because the big day came and the cake - a penguin shaped delight with chocolate and cream - looked almost identical to the picture in the book, sans a slight difference of hue that was deemed negligible.  
And it was worth it, oh so worth it, when Teddy was finally guided into the kitchen in Billy's house that day, and found the entire family there waiting for him with smiles on their faces and the cake on the table. At first, Teddy didn't know what to make of it but he soon noticed the book that rested on the table next to it.

Those were happy tears, Billy told himself and reached to half hug Teddy when the other's shoulders began rocking. The emotions evident in Teddy's eyes were conflicting each other, a mixture of longing and loneliness and gratitude and joy. It was worth it all, Billy thought to himself when Teddy took a deep breath and blew out the candles.

"It's alright-" Jeff reassured them when he sliced the penguin, idly ignoring the show of terror and fight the younger boys were putting on when the penguin lost its legs and a wing. "I helped him bake it."

Teddy laughed lightly and accepted the plate offered to him, carrying with it one of the legs. Billy received the other but refrained from eating until he saw the delighted, albeit on the verge of tears expression on Teddy's face. He nibbled idly on a small piece and waited until his family got preoccupied with each other, an event that took place quickly enough and let Billy lean closer to Teddy and speak so only he could make out his words.

"Hey, mind if I baked you one next year, too?"

Teddy stopped in mid-chew, only to resume it the next moment while he looked at Billy. There was both a request and a promise in the brown spheres, and Teddy finally swallowed before reaching to awkwardly ruffle Billy's hair while still holding his cake-fork.

"Only if Jeff helps."

"Deal." Billy replied and the two bade their time, waiting for just the right moment when they could take their leave and retreat to Billy's room, where the rest of Billy's plan for Teddy's birthday could unfold without interruption.


End file.
